1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and methods interfacing with Internet search engines, bid management systems and web analytic systems. In particular, the present invention relates to systems and methods for the direct (1:1) tracking of keywords to advertisements (Ads)/text.
2. Description of the Background Art
With the development of the Internet, a number of new business models for producing sales and generating revenue have been developed. For example, it is now commonplace for search engines to allow advertisers to purchase keywords and display their associated advertising in response to searches or queries on such keywords. The pricing of such keywords can vary depending on a number of factors including the number of advertisers that want to purchase such keywords, the number of searches including such keywords and other factors. Presently, the management of such keywords is largely performed manually with human users inputting keywords. For example, keywords are currently managed using any one of a number of spreadsheet or document formats. Users typically list the keywords in a document or spreadsheet, then convert the document, so that the keywords are listed in a format such as comma-separated values, and finally, that data is converted and uploaded into a search engine. Large advertising campaigns can have tens of thousands of keywords as part of an Internet marketing strategy.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional scheme used by search engines to pair keywords with text or advertisements is shown. Typically, an advertiser will purchase a number of keywords (keyword 1 to keyword n) according to prices provided by the search engines. The advertiser will also provide one or more ads/text. Then responsive to search inputs by users the search engine will choose, based on the selected keyword, one of the ads/text from a list provided by the advertiser. In the prior art, the search engine randomly pairs keywords with ads/text or selects the ad's last text on a rotating basis: first using ad 1, next using ad 2, next using ad 3, etc. until the nth ad is used and returns to ad 1.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the operation of the constituent components is shown in more detail. In a first step, the keyword is selected based on the search criteria input by the user. Then in a next step, an ad/text is selected from a list of possible advertisements. The keyword-ad pair is then provided as part of the web page to the user.
However, one problem with prior art schemes is that it is very difficult to determine which keywords are associated with which ads, and in turn with customer or user traffic associated with the ads as measured by click-throughs, other Web traffic metrics and purchases. Since the ads are randomly or rotationally associated with keywords, it is very difficult to determine which ads in keywords are responsible for generating traffic to the web site that yields sales. Thus, there is a need for a system and method that is able to provide more analytical data that directly associates Web traffic with specific keyword/add pairs.